Generally, door stops are described in terms of use for doors on residential homes or commercial buildings. Originally a door was held in a fully open position by a wedge forced between the bottom of the door and the floor. Another original solution to the problem was a hook-and-eye hardware apparatus. While these devices functioned adequately to hold a door open, the wedge could cause a tripping hazard when not in use, and neither device provided the function of a door stop.
Numerous inventors have created doorstops that had an added feature of retaining a door in a fully open position. U.S. Pat. Des. No. 251,585 to Coutts (1979), U.S. Pat. No. 257,944 to Morita (1981), U.S. Pat. No. 263,558 to Morita (1982), U.S. Pat. No. 1,564,183 to Prinzler (1925), U.S. Pat. No. 1,688,221 to Abbey (1928), U.S. Pat. No. 1,941,576 to Phipps (1934), and U.S. Pat. No. 2,872,232 to Lawson (1959) disclose both floor and wall mounted door stopping and retaining devices. While these devices are suitable for use in homes and other buildings, some of them cannot be adapted for use on marine vessels.
None of the noted devices that can be adapted for use in a marine vessel address the constant rattling of the doors or hatch covers caused by the vessel crossing waves. In rough waters, the rattling can become quite intense and the forces generated by even the slightest door movements can damage a door stop or cause the stop to fail thereby allowing the door to swing freely on its hinges. Additionally, the inventions by Prinzler and Coutts require a degree of force to engage and release the components. The resistance created by pushing or pulling a door to engage or release these devices causes the door to transmit stress and twisting to its hinges, which could damage or loosen the hinges.
Both wall and floor mounted combined door stops and latching devices are of a high cost to the consumer due to their high manufacturing expense, and are difficult to install and align for the average person. When wall mounted, they will not function unless a door is parallel to a wall in its open position so that the invention meets the door at a 90-degree angle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,608 to Pool (1979) discloses a combination door stop and catch; however, this invention is exposed along a door's edge and the side facing a room, when the door is retained in a fully open position. It will not function unless a door is parallel to the wall in a fully open position causing the invention to meet a door at a 90-degree angle. With continued use, the device defaces the edge and side of a door facing a room, when the door is in the fully open position. If used on a marine vessel, the device allows a door to rattle back and forth causing the same problems noted above.
Another solution to the problem was the invention of various magnetic door stops and holders. U.S. Pat. Des. No. 253,335 to Gauntner et al. (1979), U.S. Pat. No. 259,395 to Sugasawara (1981), U.S. Pat. No. 274,980 to Tomita (1984), U.S. Pat. No. 2,496,691 to Berry (1948), U.S. Pat. No. 2,815,236 to Lowinski (1957), U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,559 to Basinger (1959), U.S. Pat. No. 3,100,664 to Duval (1962), U.S. Pat. No. 3,163,453 to Stephens (1962), U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,443 to Rodgers (1966), U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,370 to Greytok (1971), U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,557 to Centofante (1972), disclose both floor and wall mounted, magnetic door stops and holders. While these devices would not allow the doors of a marine vessel to rattle, they could not hold those doors open in rough water. Additionally, the inherently brittle characteristic of magnets allowed them to break, or crumble when continually being impacted by the mass of a door.
A device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,514 to Troy (1996) discloses the use of hook and loop type material on a door and door stop for holding the door in an open position. While this device would be advantageous to magnet type door stops in a marine environment, it also would not hold the door open in rough water.
To overcome some of the disadvantages of door stops designed primarily for use in buildings, several door stops have been designed specifically for use in marine vessels. These devices generally comprise some sort of mechanical apparatus that has some means for latching a door in an open position. Of the devices, designed for marine use, that attempt to address the problem of a door rattling in rough water, the majority use some sort of compressible bumper between the door and the door stop.
While these devices were intended to reduce or eliminate rattling, they do not work. When devices are installed such that the bumper would reduce rattling, the bumper will not compress far enough so that the latch can function. Additionally, the bumpers can become less compressible over time or when a vessel is operated in cold environments, therefore making it difficult to latch the door in the open position.
Therefore a need exists for a door stop device that is suitable for use in a building, but can be used on a marine vessel. Such a device should be able to hold the door of a marine vessel in an open position when the vessel is in rough water. A need also exists for such a device that does not rattle when a door is held in the open position. A non-rattling marine door stop that can hold a door in an open position in cold environments and that does not lose its effectiveness over time would be an improvement over the prior art.